Student Inspires Composer’s Work

Antonin Dvořák, Czech composer, notably associated with symphonic works including his highly celebrated “New World Symphony” – a work that contains a warm and richly identifiable Afrocentric motif that became an artsong song titled “Goin’ Home”.

How the motif was born can best be explained as a blend of folklore, legend and interpretation due to a chance meeting with Harry T. Burleigh, an African American voice student who by most accounts, introduced Dvořák to the genre of Afrocentric sacred music in the United States. To Learn more about composer Antonin Dvořák, visit “The Odyssey Series” on the Higher Ground page.